Sito's yummy birthday

Sito's birthday this year happened to be the last day of the school year and Malaysia's elections, the latter meaning he had an off day!

The day started with a kiss from his baby, awww...

Kai and Yang had their last day on Thursday so we headed out for lunch without Yu, who went to school for farewell parties.

We had never eaten at Kim San Leng nearby though I had packed food from there before. So we went there. Yang wasn't impressed. But eventually, he chose economical bee hoon. Kai chose karaage fried rice while I went for the BCM. 

Sito later decided on economic beehoon - a vey big plate for under $6!

I decided that since we were there, might as well eat more?! So I ordered a bit of Indian rojak - hard to find this! 

Belly full, we went to the market to walk walk. But Yang spotted jackfruits so we stopped - those were the entire big things. I led them to the fruit store to show them what the edible parts looked like. The uncle gave me one seed to let them try. Yang just stood there looking sad - he really didn't want to try but uncle offered... Haha! So poor thing but so cute! He finally took a bit in and declared ok.

On the other hand, Kai had run off at the first mention of "try"! Sito found him and he decided that he would try. Immediately he said it was sweet and happily ate the remainder! 

I didn't buy more jackfruit but I got an expensive Spanish persimmon and some strawberries. The persimmon was really really sweet!

We continued our walk and found Snip Avenue. I had wanted to cut the boys' hair at Beauty World but since we were there, might as well. Bought a package of 10+2 cuts for $48! Then we bought a cake and went home for food coma *.*

Fetched Yu home to drop his bag before leaving for dinner at Mongkok at Beauty World. They wanted popsicles so the condition was that they must try all the dim sum :p

Walking on the narrow walkway

They just stood outside the shop to eat popsicles

After we got cleaned up, it was time for the birthday cake!

Yup, it was a pretty watermelon cake! But it was just vanilla inside, quite yummy! Only Yu tried a bit of the cake on Saturday though. Somehow our kids decided not to eat cake :(

Second cake was a chendol cake - so good!

Dinner was at a Sichuan place in HV. Think the place used to be a Mexican restaurant. The food was nice but the kids didn't like the smell of the spices. Lucky there was the usual fried rice and fried noodles for them. And lucky they had a lot of meat on Saturday already haha!

Now for the two months each year when Sito and I are of the same age, haha!

Bye bye school year 2022!

Thursday was the last day of school for Kai and Yang, Friday being Honours Day when only those with awards would need to go to school.

Thursday was also - quite likely - the last time that Yu and I sat together at breakfast, just the two of us. He woke in his own bed in his own room quite late, at 7.40 am. After 15 min of rolling in bed, he had his favourite breakfast of milo and crackers and chattered away as usual. 

He moved further in and beckoned for me to sit next to him on the bench :)

I went to fetch Kai and Yang on Thursday. They grabbed a quick lunch at 7-11 and we hopped on the bus, but Yang and I alighted at Stevens MRT while Kai continued his way home. Yang had an appointment at the Student Health Centre.

On the TEL for the first time - brand new trains and stations!

During the eye check, I was worried when he couldn't read the letters on the screen; I could read everything. Later, I found out it was all testing; his eyesight was good though the right eye could be mildly off. Bottom line is - no need glasses.

Friday was Yu's last day in school. I planned to withdraw him at the end of November since I'm not working. Further, it would be so hard to convince him to go to school until end of December when his brothers are home. Lucky kid got to skip one month of school, unlike his brothers who went to school until end of December!

Then, I realised that the brothers would be home during the last two weeks of November too. And we would be on holiday in the 20s. So I tried to withdraw him earlier - on 18 Oct, i.e. exactly one month before 18 Nov - but was told that notice had to be given by 1 Oct *.* 

And best, right after that, the school informed parents that they would be renovating the centre and all kids would go to their church from 21 Nov to March next year! In short, I decided that his last day would be 18 Nov. After that, I would send him to school only if I really, really need to... So lucky kid is even luckier!

With the move, some parents changed school or had last day on Friday like us. So there was a farewell party on Friday. I also brought some cupcakes for afternoon tea for his class and all the staff. Happened to bump into his classmate's father who came to get the younger kid in a dino costume, after showing up at K2 class party in the same costume in the morning - the kids really loved it!

Anyway, Friday was Sito's birthday so we celebrated his birthday - more on that later. So we celebrated the end of the school year on Saturday!

Apparently, I promised them Yakun haha!

Yang had almost all the eggs! Yu tried some and decided against it. Kai had lots of toast as usual - gave him his requested number of pieces, and what his brothers couldn't finish.

After breakfast, we went to the supermarket. I showed them the cost of some foods we have regularly or they like, and asked Kai and Yang to compare against the prices we saw in 7-11 on Thursday. So they learnt that it's usually cheaper to buy at a supermarket than a convenience store, coz you must pay for that convenience...

It was rainy and very cold on Saturday so we thought hotpot for dinner would be great! The free flow drinks were carbonated which Yang and Yu don't like so to be fair, we didn't offer Kai drinks. They all have their water bottle with them. Kai and Yang ate quite a lot! Yu didn't like the shabu as much but he had his share of chicken cheese balls :p

Best of all, they had free flow ice cream! Thankfully, each tub was small. While they were having their second tub, Sito and I went to pay. When I came back, I found that Kai and Yu were on their third!! When I said that must be the last one, Yang quickly finished his second and took a third *.* Sito and I shared two tubs - a 懐かしい strawberry and a refreshing lime.

Our warm dinner before a cold treat, or two, or three!

I ordered their school books and collected Yu's uniforms on Wednesday. So all there's left to do is to wait for the books and I can prepare them (and myself) for the new school year! That's it then, AY 2022!

Last P1 orientation

So many lasts... 😭

Yesterday morning, Yu finished writing thank-you notes to his kindy teachers, on cards that he made a couple of weeks ago. Then I gave him a letter - I wrote such a letter to each of them at this time, as they graduated from kindy and were going to primary one.

He read it out loud :)

Then he decided that he wanted to write Papa and Mama a note too. He asked for sticky paper but I no longer had big ones for him so he asked for regular paper. He said it was a secret and went away to write - across the table from me :p

After he stuck the two pieces of paper together, he put it into the envelope I gave him earlier, and handed it to me. He's the only boy to write such a note on his own at this age :)))

Awww, so sweet! 

First page was exactly what he wrote to us in school but the second page was all his. Yup, we just had a movie night on Thursday, since there was no school on Friday, it being promotion day and orientation day.

Made burgers for them for lunch. Made the buns myself, and used frozen Korean beef patties. Reviews varied from not too bad to good. But I forgot about myself - the beef patties came in packs of three and I was busy settling lunch for them. Didn't realised it until 3 plus during the orientation *.*

We took the bus to school. Little boy was in my lap most of the time, a little sleepy and babbling baby things. I got him to sit up as we exited the expressway to show him the schools along the way. Then I realised he doesn't know his school name in full!!

Must take picture and remind him back home :p

Dropped him off at a classroom. The teacher registering him got his name and asked, "你是振扬的弟弟吗？" It was Yang's form teacher! I couldn't recognise at first coz of the mask. She asked Yu in Mandarin where Yang was and what he was doing. Yu replied in Mandarin too - 在家；在玩 :p

I watched him settle down with his bag and collect a piece of paper for colouring. Then I went to the concert hall. I've been through all the school values etc but I must know some admin details for next year so... 

This was the first in-person orientation since 2019. They had two kids as emcees - very cute. They also had quite a few videos to show us. One documents the life of a kid who was in P2. Then I saw Yang a few times in that video! :) Later, Yang told me that was his classmate and the filming made him hold his pee *.*

Finally, it was time to fetch Yu! The teachers distributed a sandwich and water for the kids. Yu finished the sandwich! I thought I could have a bite, haha! 

He told me there were 25 kids in his class. He made some friends but he could tell me the name of only the one who sat next to him. They did colouring but he didn't complete his. They also played games. In all, it was fun! I'm so happy that he enjoyed himself :)

I've ordered his uniforms, and since it was 11/11, I also bought his schoolbag online. I wanted to buy from Popular but there was only the display piece left and the $30 vouchers were partner vouchers and not Popular vouchers. Now, I just need books and shoes - will buy together with his brothers'.

Excursion to Punggol!

After the BBQ in October, Kai kept asking to go to JiuJiu's place to play. So we arranged for the Saturday after exams.

We took a bus to Yishun to change to another bus. Passed by some really ulu places, so ulu that two stray dogs were just lying on the middle of a side road *.* Would they become populated 50 years later? We won't know...

My baby Yu fell asleep on me after a while

Yishun bus interchange looked very happening! The old Northpoint is now Northpoint City. City ok! We passed quickly by as we were late already. But I think we need to go back one day...

At first, they sat down properly

Then, they got very high *.*

They were jumping in some games but I never managed to get there in time with my camera!

Checking out fish tank #1 of three during dinner/snack break

They also have a rabbit who hid behind the sofa 90% of the time we were there, coming out only to poo or eat

The kids like to loiter outside the pet shop downstairs to look at bunnies, guinea pigs and hamsters. Now that there was one in front of them, they would rather play Nintendo than to play with it *.*

Nevermind, auntie shall take picture with Milky!

Finally noticed the bunny just as we were leaving!

My suaku kids refilling water from a filter machine

Just lounging about with ice cream after zichar dinner

We left after 5+1+1 more minigames. It was a 25 min cab ride home vs. about one hour by bus but way less interesting!

Yang said he didn't want to poop coz he wanted to go to bed early. But of course he didn't feel sleepy after showering! When they eventually got in bed, they were out very quickly. Same for Sito and me. It was a very long day since we started with Yu's graduation concert. Glad they had fun though!

Our last kindy graduand

Finally, we attended our last kindy graduation concert last Saturday, 5 Nov. Mixed feelings - happy on one hand and sad on the other. Our babies are growing up so fast!

The last preschool concert took place in 2019 before the pandemic happened. In 2020, Yang had an in-school graduation concert that was recorded and sent to parents. This year, the school managed to put up a proper concert but only for the graduating class.

I sent Yu to the venue earlier and went to grab breakfast at the mall nearby. Other parents joined in and we had a good chat. I had wanted to chope seats for the rest but ended up they arrived before me! :p But it was really nice chatting with this group of parents :)

The kids started the morning with a performance in their graduation robes. Then they were called on stage to receive their certificate. Graduation speeches in English and Mandarin followed. I think Yu can speak as well but more slowly :p Then they gave another performance that linked to a card presentation to parents - each family sent a rep to receive a card from their graduand. 

Before the concert, he told me he was worried. I thought he was nervous about the performance but no. He said he wrote something wrongly on the card. It's perfectly fine, my dear :)

My baby presented this to me :)

Oh, I didn't cry :p Maybe coz I knew about the card? I remember crying when Kai walked down the aisle to give Sito and me flowers and a card.

Our boy came to sit with us coz there was a surprise for him too!

It was a video message from parents! He saw other parents first and asked if we did one. Of course! And he was very pleased to see us on the screen :) He didn't cry :p But a fellow mum told me her daughter cried, awww!

With his brothers

With AhMa and YeePo (and Yang)

There was then a concert with four segments - in the sky, under the sea, in the forest and in the garden. A mix of acting and dancing. 

We stayed back a little to take some photos before leaving. Yang also took a photo with his teacher and three friends whose younger sibling is in Yu's class.

Ended the celebration with Macs!

The theme for the concert was "The places we will go". Can't go to see where Yu will go :) Congrats on your graduation, my baby! More to come but no stress, ok.. Haha!

The month of exams

It was a very busy month, with Children's Day, Yu's birthday, rehearsals for kindy graduation concert, two trips to the polyclinic, revision and exams!

Started the month with volcano ramen. New experience for the kids. Noodles are usually very acceptable to them. Strangely, only Kai liked the karaage chicken... But Yang and Yu had hardboiled eggs. They all liked the hour glass too much *.*

Kai eating his chicken while his brothers looked at the steam

Kai having another piece of chicken just before we tucked into the ramen haha!

Lovely Children's Day setup outside the door

Happy Children's Day with their fave breakfast!

The kids came home with so much goodies from their teachers! Little toys and mini snacks. They finished the snacks very quickly. They also stopped playing with those toys very quickly *.*

Kai and Yang had extra treats - games while I had foot massage after their haircut :p

We had another pasar malam downstairs! Third since COVID restrictions were eased. And the fried chicken went from $5 to $5.50 to $6. I didn't buy it this time. But I bought lekor and tako balls, which Yu likes! He's always asking me to buy this and that on the way home from school...

First try of tako balls

He's very happy that he's tall enough to do this *.*

But he still hangs on to Papa like a baby!

Every October, primary school kids get four consecutive days of rest in the third week due to PSLE marking. As I wanted to focus on Kai's revision, I had to give Yang something to do. So we returned our library books earlier this time to get new books for those days! But these kids were so excited that they finished reading them very quickly!

Yu started right after showering

Same with Yang - he found a series he likes

Kai decided to read too but chose his own comics

And so it was that he did eight papers in four days! Which meant I marked and went through eight papers in four days too. Teachers get to teach English or Chinese or Maths or Science. I get to teach ALL FOUR. What do I say... 

He did another set after this, each on the day before the exam. I don't know if it was luck or the earlier practice, he did better in all except Maths. Actually, he knows his maths but he was very careless! Anyway, hope the last set boosted his confidence.

While Kai was very cooperative in doing his revision, Yang was also cooperative - he did his own things, be it reading or watching TV. No complaints from him. I wonder how it would be like a year from now, with Yu in the picture...!

Yang cut the grass off the grass head thingy that Yu got from his teacher or friend

To reward Kai and Yang (and Yu for going to school while his brothers were home!), we had prata on the following Monday which was Deepavali! It was supposed to be brunch since I always had to nag at them to have breakfast. Then I can save energy for two meals :p But they got hungry so we went down at 9.30 am or so, and waited a long time for food even though the eatery wasn't full. 

Even Papa came back from his jog already!

Supplemented with chicken balls later when Papa went to get lunch for himself. Must always give these boys some protein coz I hope they would grow some meat haha!

We continued watching the escape room Chinese game show that we started on Friday. It was very fun to watch! But my not-so-hidden agenda is to expose them to more Chinese...

Yu was scared and just put his face on me the whole time - excuse for hugs? :p

This boy is still small enough to sit on me and look up at me. So dear coz this stage will be over for us very soon, sobs!

On Sunday morning, he sat on my lap facing me and mumbled his usual rubbish words with a cute face. I told him to do the same to Papa - cutify him! But Papa was lying down so:

Awww!

XBB0 and XBB3. Not the COVID variant but Xiao Bao Bei 小宝贝 haha! I named the kids XBB1, XBB2 and XBB3. Then I asked them who XBB0 was - so easy right? :p

Last weekend, they drew with Arts for Kids Hub

Then Yu discovered a series of Pokemon - he drew a lot!

All three can now climb from one end to the other without touching the ground!

We prefer the playground across the road with slides and merry-go-round compared to the one in our estate which is only a climbing structure. And when we go there, we often eat at the coffeeshop. This time, the kids didn't complain about going there - coz they now know they can get a drink!

Kai bought a coke on his own. Yang chose his usual berry juice which tastes like Ribena which he doesn't like *.* Yu chose chrysanthemum but it was Polka and not Yeo's which he prefers, But he was very funny:

"I get brain freeze!"

So glad I captured this moment!!! He says the funniest things and more.

This morning, I met LN at Yakun and brought him along. While I was queueing up, the two of them chatted. He told LN about his graduation concert and our upcoming cruise and Legoland trip, including the age groups for kids' clubs on the cruise, how Yang would move to a different age group from him next year (!), and how he's not a baby anymore and could take more rides at Legoland!  LN and I were impressed, haha!

Yang was very funny last night. He saw the TV advert on a cruise and asked excitedly if that was OUR cruise. Yes! I love his enthusiasm! On the other hand, Kai said it was boring... Goodness, have we got a teenager on our hands already??

Anyway, it's Kai's last paper today - Chinese. I try not to ask about his exams. Instead, I let him volunteer info. So today, he said it was tough. Ah well, we still went to celebrate the end of exams with a BBQ and hotpot dinner!

These two had a lot of sliced beef and rice

Kai would have instant noodles even in the kimchi soup but he found it troublesome to cook; rather cook beef and put on rice!

Yu watching Papa cut egg tofu but he doesn't eat it *.*

Yu preferred the bulgogi. He MUST poop before the end of dinner so I brought him home first. He really had a lot of poop haha! 

And that was the month of exams! Kai said he would start getting his papers back tomorrow. I shall wait for him to tell me :)

Lord of the (two) rings

Back in 2009, it was just the two of us when we went to Chinatown to shop for our wedding rings. Fast forward to 2022, we brought three kids along to shop for wedding rings :)

Keeping them occupied with games among the shiny

When Sito was leaving for KL on Monday, 10 Oct, he couldn't find his ring next to his wallet. While he was away, I searched the whole living room as I dusted everything. Nothing. If it had dropped onto the floor, it might have been eaten up by our robot vacuum mop. He came back the previous Thursday and that Friday when I was cleaning out the robot vacuum-mop, I happened to NOT check the content of the dust box that time :(

So that Saturday, we went to get a replacement. But they no longer carry that design. So we got new rings. Who knows, maybe his ring would show up one day?

While waiting for the staff to check on availability of Sito's size, we wondered if we should then buy from another place. We went back to Poh Heng coz we wanted to find a replacement at first. I also wondered if we could find a pair from Mum's store but Sito said he lost it so he should get it. In any case, we spent some time choosing the rings which were simple and nice so we went through with the purchase.

They informed us that the engraving was done by the following Friday. As Yu had a playdate on Saturday, we went on Sunday, leaving the kids with their grands. We didn't put on our new rings immediately. We wanted to find an auspicious day to have a little ceremony, and maybe have the kids be our ringbearers :)

Then, on Wednesday, 26 Oct, after sending Kai and Yang to the bus stop, I found his ring! I was collecting laundry and turning out his berms when something dropped with a clink. I saw a small thing spinning in the dark morning and immediately knew what it was. 

So.... The ring was with us the day we collected the new rings *.*

Sito doesn't remember when or why he took out his ring and kept it in his pocket *.* I was surprised it survived two washes in the machine. I even ironed it before! But I always sweep the pockets to the sides when I iron pants so I would never have found out...

So now, we have two pairs of wedding rings! And my lord of two rings didn't dare to remove it when he wore it to KL that Wednesday until he got back on Thursday night :p

Oh btw, I'm reading LOTR now - volume three already!

As for me, somehow, I started wearing my ring 24/7 after we got the new rings. Maybe I felt that I did not wear it much in the past few years with WFH and wanted to wear it more before switching to the new ones. I took it off briefly after I found Sito's ring but I decided I want to wear it 24/7. I'm now used to it and won't scratch pots and stuff with it anymore.

We're still planning to switch over but no rush now since he has a ring to wear now. Let me go show the kids our wedding photos first to psych them into becoming our ringbearers :)

A new (old) kitchen gadget

When we moved to BP in 2018, Mum gave us the airfryer she bought to toast peanuts back in 2012 or so coz she used it that one time and never again. We used it on and off to cook nuggets and fried chicken for the kids.

When I took over the kitchen after we gave up the helper, I wanted to use it more but I realised the airfryer was very gross. No matter how I soaked and washed it, I couldn't get the grease off. And the mesh tray was all discoloured, bent and sticky. I could no longer bring myself to use it.

Then I remembered Mother got one too back in 2016 or something. Think she had some voucher and between an airfryer and a hoover, she went for the former. But she used it once and never again. So I asked her to bring over when she came for the BBQ.

The greasy Philips was probably one of the first generations of airfryers, with a mesh cooking tray and a drip tray with grooves, both hard to keep clean. It was also very heavy to lift out of the bottom shelf - we have no other spot to keep this appliance. I brought it to the cleaning/recycling area with a big sticker saying it's still working. 

The new(er) Powerpac is also pretty old, with a small capacity than the Philips but it's enough for us. Most importantly, it's easy to clean! The cooking tray is not mesh and the drip tray has an even surface. I use grease paper to line the tray so can just wipe after light use and wash only after major cooking.

But the Powerpac feels less sturdy than the Philips - it can slide on the counter and the closing of the tray is not as smooth. Still, it's so light and easy to clean that I have used the Powerpac airfryer more times in the past three weeks than I used the Philips in four years!

First use was prata sausage rolls for the kids' after-school lunch - so easy and they love it. Then I made a sandwich for myself - I can do this in the toaster oven but the heat is more even in the airfryer. Also fried chicken thighs to top spaghetti, beef patties for burgers and Korea pancakes for supper. Will try to fry fish next - reduce fishy smell in the kitchen!

Kids enjoying prata sausage rolls